Further Reading

Have you been to see Hobbs and Shaw yet? It's the latest installment from the Fast and Furious franchise, a spinoff starring Vanessa Kirby, Jason Statham, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and Idris Elba, and it's pretty darn good as far as mindless summer action flicks go. Now, I know what you're thinking: he only really likes it because it's got some cool cars. But here's a secret—I'm far more in love with the way everyone is dressed in the movie.

Much of the credit for that goes to Sarah Evelyn, the film's costume designer. But there's another influence at work in the wardrobe department, that of techwear luminary Errolson Hugh. Hugh has been called "your favorite designer's favorite designer," although more recently you might know him from having started that bottle cap challenge earlier this summer.

It's fair to say Hugh's attitude toward design, particularly with his label, Acronym, is uncompromising. In fact, it reminds me a lot of Gordon Murray's approach to designing the McLaren F1. Like Murray, Hugh's work is heavy with the latest technology—it is called "techwear," after all. But instead of ultra lightweight composites (the McLaren F1 was the first production road car to be made completely from carbon fiber), it uses cutting-edge fabrics from companies like Schoeller, Gore, and Nextec.

Further Reading

Of course, it's more than just clever textiles—after all, you can use those and still make clothes that let you blend in; you know, normal-looking stuff. About the only place you'll blend in wearing head-to-toe Acronym might be at a conference for space ninjas from the future, which is probably what drew Evelyn to his work. But we're not talking cosplay outfits here—form follows function, and every detail has a reason behind it. A keen martial artist, Hugh often credits his first karate gi as the inspiration for his pattern designs that restrict your movement as little as possible, as demonstrated in a series of "Acronymjutsu" videos that are the closest the cryptic brand ever gets to advertising.

I had an inkling that Acronym was going to feature in Hobbs and Shaw when the first trailer showed our eponymous heroes wearing jumpsuits. These featured a rather distinctive style of pocket, almost identical to the ones you find on a pair of Acronym P24A pants. (All of Acronym's designs have alphanumeric designations rather than names.) And although a big-budget action movie was the last place I expected to see the label show up, it wasn't that far-fetched. Statham is a high-profile fan, along with William Gibson, John Mayer, and the late Robin Williams (yes, really).

Hobbs and Shaw, along with Shaw's sister, get their wardrobe upgrade after visiting Madam M, a Russian friend of Shaw's who helps the trio in their plan to break into the bad guys' HQ. First, there are those custom jumpsuits; once on the ground our heroes stick with the techwear vibe. After all, who doesn't want to look like a space ninja? In fact, the techwear look extends to the assorted evil scientists and muscle working for the evil Eteon group, although Idris Elba's transhuman villain Brixton owes a lot more to motocross.

I had to know for sure, so I reached out to the Berlin-based designer. Here's what he told me:

"The whole thing happened because Jason walked into wardrobe one day and was like ‘"Oh I know that guy." We were on the mood boards for a lot of the stuff. But they were motivated and were really keen to get us to do the main outfits for Jason and Dwayne. The whole thing was super smooth. We sent patterns and materials and they built all the iterations. They needed 15 of each in like five weeks. I have no idea how they pulled it off."

Statham's ensemble was almost strictly off the shelf. "Statham rocked stock P10As and a J73 with an arm patch! Looked great and fit perfectly," Hugh told me. It probably helped that the actor already knew his size; for his substantial costar they had to get a bit more creative. That black vest is one Hugh designed for Stone Island's Shadow Project collection, modified to fit The Rock. "Dwayne’s vest was a rebuild—we only had medium—and his pants were refitted extra-large P24As," he said.

Further Reading

As techwear devotees will already know, wearing a lot of black water-resistant fabric works pretty well when it's cold and wet outside, but less so when the climate gets tropical. So it's not really a surprise that by the time our film reaches its conclusion in Samoa our heroes are back in more normal outfits. But that's OK—not every car in the film can be a McLaren 720S, either.

91 Reader Comments

A fashion story on ARS really ??? This isn't Cosmo... Reminds me of absurd Saturday morning cartoons where the most important thing for little girls is to find the perfect battle outfit.... Not survival...

But there's another influence at work in the wardrobe department, that of techwear luminary Errolson Hugh. Hugh has been called "your favorite designer's favorite designer," although more recently you might know him from having started that bottle cap challenge earlier this summer.

But there's another influence at work in the wardrobe department, that of techwear luminary Errolson Hugh. Hugh has been called "your favorite designer's favorite designer," although more recently you might know him from having started that bottle cap challenge earlier this summer.

I still have no clue what/who the *bleep* you're talking about.

Isn’t it helpful that I included a bunch of links in those words so you could find out?

Just in case anyone did not click on the links, these pants go for about €1200.

are they worth that material/labor wise?

The production runs are very small and the cost of labor is high. But I’ll be honest, the last couple of years have seen hefty price rises that are a bit hard to stomach when Arcteryx Veilance pants are now less than a third the price. There’s been a lot less inflation when it comes to the jackets (or maybe they were always bloody expensive).

I suppose the best way to rationalize it is that you could pay a similar amount for a really good off the peg suit that you’d also wear for many years.

if i could only afford it. and BTW, yes this belongs in arstechnica, certain more readers for this mens fashion article in ars that in Vogue... ( obviously a female Publication, and no idea if it features mens fashion ) and while could be a article in GQ, i do not think GQ would publish it with JONATHAN M. GITLIN as the writer... (i would assume they would have a staff writer do it)

and it also shows that JONATHAN M. GITLIN is not just a “gear head”...

I’d go for a write up on the technologies that make fabrics “technical.” In some cases it seems they just add some stretch and call it “tech fabric”. In other cases there are matte finishes, high durability, water resistance, and airiness/breathability. Would be neat to see what new fiber & weaving techniques have allowed the real advances.

A lot of people complaining about Ars covering "fashion" (ew, cooties), but not a single person pointing to the real issue: too damn many Fast & Furious articles. What's next? Articles about becoming the mostest swole-y-est or top 10 ways to humiliate nerds?

Oh My God. That is insane. I thought $200 softshells from REI was expensive. I just want softshell jackets with smartphone pockets. And pants with smartphone pockets. And I can already get those from REI for much cheaper than this designer.

Just in case anyone did not click on the links, these pants go for about €1200.

are they worth that material/labor wise?

The production runs are very small and the cost of labor is high. But I’ll be honest, the last couple of years have seen hefty price rises that are a bit hard to stomach when Arcteryx Veilance pants are now less than a third the price. There’s been a lot less inflation when it comes to the jackets (or maybe they were always bloody expensive).

I suppose the best way to rationalize it is that you could pay a similar amount for a really good off the peg suit that you’d also wear for many years.

Unless they're hand weaving the fabrics and hand sewing the clothing (not even using a sewing machine), there's just no way that cost of labor is more than a fraction of the quoted prices. There's not that much work that goes into making non custom clothes, and while different materials add complexities, it's not that hard.

*Shakes her head* you're better off not trying to rationalize these things or trying to move them into sounding more palatable based on reaching for things that sound relatively more broadly acceptable as reasons. The price is almost certainly mostly for the design and the relative exclusivity of the designer (as circular as that becomes when talking high priced designer fashion). And also their design expertise, just like the same is true in any industry where expertise comes into play and the cost of it isn't being spread across a high volume of product. Short of using particular materials with exceptional price tags, that's it.

And that's fine for people who value a specific design aesthetic that much and can afford it, or are trying to make a certain recognizable posturing gesture to peers, or think a particular designer's approach has something that sets them apart in how they select and place materials in their work. With clothes it gets an added layer of particulars that affect how it feels to wear. I don't pay attention to "tech-wear", part of why I read this in the first place out of curiosity, but I sincerely doubt there's much more going on here that no one else is doing, in terms of material at least, that would affect cost that much just based in material price.

As an aside, though, if there is something notably different going on with material selection or the labor process actually is a significant count of the price, that might make an interesting article. (This was fine for what it was, but I was kind of hoping for maybe more of that type of detail/angle, as someone who really doesn't see the appeal personally either, and doesn't quite get the tech-wear craze/"craze", personally… I mean it's in the end a fashion fad either way, but I'm not even entirely sure what's supposed to be setting it aside other than claiming the use of "high tech" materials [as if something sets them distinctly aside from other modern clothing materials] and generally trying to posture that in certain ways, some of which has some not so nice undertones to it)

I see a lot of complains about this article and tbh I don't understand them. It's still kinda about tech; could do with a paragraph or two about materials used, but it's fine.For reference, I'm a tech enthusiast that doesn't give a crap about fashion, but somehow I still found this article a bit interesting.

A fashion story on ARS really ??? This isn't Cosmo... Reminds me of absurd Saturday morning cartoons where the most important thing for little girls is to find the perfect battle outfit.... Not survival...

A lot of people complaining about Ars covering "fashion" (ew, cooties), but not a single person pointing to the real issue: too damn many Fast & Furious articles. What's next? Articles about becoming the mostest swole-y-est or top 10 ways to humiliate nerds?

Oh good, someone from the Jesse Thorn school of fashion, selling his fellow techbros on the most fashionable way to blow their VC cash.

Look at my civis profile. I have been here since the Elder Days.

This dreck is the reason I stopped reading WIRED; why I unsubscribed from Ars. But I suppose that doesn't matter. I suppose that being all Condé Nasty rakes in the fat ad cash and product placement money.

Good job destroying the Fourth Estate. Well done.

More of a nouveau rich thing. The techbros I know won't be caught dead in that thing. Not that wearing expensive T-shirts that look like they came from a swag bag is better, but the Acronym stuffs looks both ugly and expensive, which is kind of a silicon valley faux pas.

I agree in the very limited sense that it would have been better if the article went into more detail about the technology behind the clothing. But Ars has every right to run whatever it likes and this is, despite what you might think, is a tech article.

On the other hand, if John is reading this, what's the appeal of Acronym to you? IMO it looks good on Statham and co. only because they are super-ripped and will look dashing in anything from a shirt to a pink bodysuit. This is the first time I went to a clothing website, looked at their own glamor shots, and thought "damn, those models are not looking their best".

I’d go for a write up on the technologies that make fabrics “technical.” In some cases it seems they just add some stretch and call it “tech fabric”. In other cases there are matte finishes, high durability, water resistance, and airiness/breathability. Would be neat to see what new fiber & weaving techniques have allowed the real advances.

There's also one that sort of doesn't need washed: something about silver coatings or fibers (?) preventing from getting pit stench. Workout wear.

Toxic masculinity cool? Grow up! Macho-men and their steroidal muscles and big guns are literally killing us. Time to ditch the love for hyper-violent movies no matter how they set up the need for lots of shooting and killing. Can we please move on from these fantasies in which supposedly civilized people end up needing to lay waste to the bad guys?

If we haven't moved on from them since Iliad and Odyssey, I'm not sure we're going to do it before we get another Fast & Furious sequel.

Oh good, someone from the Jesse Thorn school of fashion, selling his fellow techbros on the most fashionable way to blow their VC cash.

Look at my civis profile. I have been here since the Elder Days.

This dreck is the reason I stopped reading WIRED; why I unsubscribed from Ars. But I suppose that doesn't matter. I suppose that being all Condé Nasty rakes in the fat ad cash and product placement money.

Good job destroying the Fourth Estate. Well done.

See, we know you are full of shit, because... here you are reading and commenting on this article.

Just in case anyone did not click on the links, these pants go for about €1200.

The sunglasses are 900 schmeckels. That is a hefty for sunglasses.

There was an interesting video showing all the interactions between a satchel and an outer shell jacket. A surprising amount of design went into that jacket. It even has a wrist pocket for your cellphone.

The pants are heart wrenchingly expensive, generally around $200 for most pairs. As someone who only recently made peace with spending more than $25 on jeans and spends more time than is reasonable sewing up holes in cheaply made $8 shirts from H&M or Forever 21, these are nigh-painful to justify (though I did get a couple of pairs at an “as-is” sale of prototypes, one-offs, and remainders). But since they wear so well between washings, remain in great condition, and are so far beyond even jeans in terms of comfort and style, I can say definitively this is a technical-pants relationship that will last a lifetime.

That was heart-wrenchingly expensive. $200 for a functional, good-looking pair of pants.

But there's another influence at work in the wardrobe department, that of techwear luminary Errolson Hugh. Hugh has been called "your favorite designer's favorite designer," although more recently you might know him from having started that bottle cap challenge earlier this summer.

I still have no clue what/who the *bleep* you're talking about.

Isn’t it helpful that I included a bunch of links in those words so you could find out?

I am not going to read an article to read an article about fashion for rich people. That is just too far removed from my points of reference.

I would have loved the article if it covered the any tech behind the techware. The weaving, underlying material technology, charts of how functional it is in the winter, durability, functionality.... anything really. I come to ars for deep dives of why things are cool, not lots of links. it seems like a huge missed opportunity. All I got is that the pockets are recognizable (not even if they were functional), they can do custom orders (for how much, how many employees involved, what sort of rigs did they use) and some people loved it for unnamed reasons.

This is going to go against most of the comments here but...I would like to know more about the outfits.

I'm assuming they are hand stitched (especially that jacket) based on the leather-like material used and price, but it would be interesting to know more about the fabrics, textile manufacturing techniques, and additional treatments.

Creating specialised fabrics is more expensive than most people think. And sewing machines for fabrics like thes are stupid expensive and involve onboard and offboard computers (some even use CAD type programs).

Toxic masculinity cool? Grow up! Macho-men and their steroidal muscles and big guns are literally killing us. Time to ditch the love for hyper-violent movies no matter how they set up the need for lots of shooting and killing. Can we please move on from these fantasies in which supposedly civilized people end up needing to lay waste to the bad guys?

How is this toxic masculinity? None of the actors have ever really been the “haha you’re a man with feelings? What a little bitch” type. In fact Johnson often talked about how poor he was and how emotional he would get when he was finally able to help out his mom. Or are you one of those people that assume anyone more muscular than you must be a moronic meathead who has it out for you because you’re so insecure about yourself? No shame in bettering yourself or being happy with how you are, but no need to put down others to make yourself feel righteous.

Are you sure these are not just fashion items for the rich? Although they seem like probably decent stylish clothes the only thing that seems to stand out is that they are already popular in Hollywood circles.

But there's another influence at work in the wardrobe department, that of techwear luminary Errolson Hugh. Hugh has been called "your favorite designer's favorite designer," although more recently you might know him from having started that bottle cap challenge earlier this summer.

I still have no clue what/who the *bleep* you're talking about.

Isn’t it helpful that I included a bunch of links in those words so you could find out?